I Never Told You
by Ms Chanadler Bong
Summary: Hey guys! This is an AU I've written, where Liam and Amy never sleep together and the episode ends with Karma rejecting Amy and Amy getting drunk. Based on the spoilers, I've put in the storyline where Amy blesses a Kiam union but here she also starts dating and the story is about how Karma deals with seeing Amy with someone else. Let me know what you think!
1. Chapter 1

Amy couldn't believe the way this past year had gone. She'd realized she was gay and in love with Karma and no matter she wanted to run away from it sometimes; she knew it would never go away. Being in love Karma had been sheer torture and seeing her with Liam just made everything worse. But Amy knew what it felt like to be so in love with someone that it hurt, to want them so much that they were all that seemed to matter; so she gave her blessing to Karma to be with Liam. At least one of them should be happy right?

"I can't believe you gave them your blessing." Shane said, looking over at Liam and Karma who were making out by her locker.

"I know how much she likes him, I thought at least one of us should be with the person they love." Amy said, sighing.

"Yeah but you didn't have to give them your blessing." Shane said.

"I gave them my blessing because she likes him almost as much as I love her. And it's because I love her that I want her to be happy, even if I'm not the one she's with." Amy said.

"Wow." Shane said.

"Yeah, did I just say all that out loud?" Amy asked, a little embarrassed.

"You're so gay." Shane said, laughing.

Amy just rolled her eyes.

"I think you should start dating." Shane said after he and Amy had sit down at a lunch table.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"Because karma's with Liam and you should be with someone too." Shane said.

"I don't know, you remember how me trying to get a girlfriend went last time, right?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, but this time will be different." Shane said.

"How?" Amy asked.

"Because now you know how Karma feels about you and you can start moving on." Shane said.

"I don't know if I'm ready to move on." Amy said.

"You wont know, if you don't try." Shane said, when Karma and Liam joining them at the table interrupted him.

Karma came over to Amy's house after school that day, but all Karma talked about was Liam and how she was going to meet him later that night. Amy tried being as nice about things as possible, trying to really listen to what Karma was saying but she couldn't; every word Karma spoke about Liam was breaking her heart. Amy loved Karma but how could she be so clueless.

Things continued on like this for the next few weeks, Karma barely spent any time with Amy and whenever she did, she only spoke about Liam.

Karma and Amy decided to have lunch together that day, to catch up.

It was lunch and Karma was standing with Liam outside the art room. It broke Amy to see them together but she sucked it up and went over to Karma.

"Hey, you ready for lunch?" Amy asked, walking toward Karma and Liam.

"Oh fuck, I completely spaced. Liam and I were planning to go off campus for lunch, rain check?" Karma asked.

"Yeah." Amy said and walked away.

She couldn't believe she and Karma had reached this point. She looked back at Karma to see her kissing Liam and that was the moment she knew; she needed something to take her pain away, someone to be her distraction.

Shane was sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria.

"I'll do it." Amy said, taking a seat next to him.

"Do what?" Shane asked.

"Date someone." Amy said.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Shane asked.

"Because Karma is too busy sucking Liam's face to care about me anymore and I'm ready to get over this." Amy said.

"Okay then, I know this girl in my Spanish girl in my class, her name's Francia; I'll set you guys up." Shane said.

"Okay thanks." Amy said.

She didn't know how she was going to live without Karma but with the way things were, she'd need to learn to have a life without and beyond Karma because Karma had already moved on with hers.


	2. Chapter 2

Ever since Amy had decided to move on, she tried not to think about Karma but it never worked. As much as she wanted to believe she'd find somebody and fall in love and she and Karma could just go back to being best friends, she knew that with the way her heart ached for Karma, she might never fall in love with any one else, ever.

"Hey." Shane said, as he walked up at Amy, who was taking books out of her locker.

"Hey." Amy said, turning to look at Shane.

"So I spoke to Francia about you." Shane said.

"And?" Amy asked.

"She wants to meet you for coffee after school today." Shane said.

"Where?" Amy asked.

"At that coffee shop, you went to when you ventured into the world of online dating." Shane said.

"Why that place? That place brings out the worst in me." Amy said, shutting her locker.

"She chose it and hey maybe it wont be that bad." Shane said.

Amy shot him a look.

"Okay I know but nothing can be as bad as the last time, you can only get better." Shane said, as he and Amy walked to class.

to

Shane came over to Amy's house that afternoon, help her pick what to wear.

"This cute, wear this." Shane said, about the fifth outfit Amy had tried on that afternoon.

"Are you sure?" Amy asked, looking at herself in the mirror.

"Yes! For the last time Amy, just wear this." Shane said.

"I really hope I don't screw this up." Amy said, turning to look at Shane, who was sitting on her bed.

"You wont, just try, okay? What's the worst that can happen?" Shane said.

"I could make a complete fool of myself and drive her away." Amy said.

"Yeah, that." Shane said.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"Stop overthinking, just go. I'll be waiting for you when you get back." Shane said as he pushed Amy out the door.

Amy reached the coffeshop and looked around. At one corner of the shop sat a girl that matched the description Shane had given Amy. When she saw Amy, she stood up. She was tall, brunette, the summer's tan still lingering on her face. She seemed like the kind of girl anyone could fall in love with, maybe even Amy.

Amy walked up to the small table in the corner.

"Hi, I'm Francia." Francia said, extending her hand.

"Amy." Amy said, taking Francia's hand.

They spent a while talking about general things, school and the likes.

"So how did you realize you were gay?" Francia asked.

"Um, I don't know.." Amy hesitated. She'd been trying not to look at Francia, but when she finally did, she decided to tell her the truth. "I kissed my best friend and it was like my whole universe snapped into focus. I realized that I didn't want to spend another second, not kissing her."

"Karma?" Francia asked.

"Yeah." Amy said, looking down at her hands.

"You guys always seemed so happy together, why did you break up?" Francia asked.

Amy took a deep breath and decided to go with this whole honesty thing she had going. "Karma and I always said we'd spend our lives together and by the time I realized she was my happily every after, she'd already realized someone else was hers."

"Can I ask you something?" Francia asked.

"Sure." Amy said, figuring she didn't have anything to lose at this point.

"Do you really want to do this?" Francia asked.

"Do what?" Amy asked.

"Be here? On a date with me?" Francia asked.

"Honestly, I'm not over Karma but I really do want to be over her. I want to be here, with you. But I get it, it's not fair to you to have to be with somebody whose not over their ex; so if you don't want to continue, I get it. " Amy said.

Francia didn't say anything for a few moments," My girlfriend and I broke up last month and she now acts as if she doesn't even know me. This is the first date I've been on, since we broke up. I'm just as lost as you are."

"I just think she moved on because she had something to move onto and maybe I can.. We can move on too, if we have something that makes us want to move forward." Amy said, smiling embarrassedly.

Amy and Francia spoke about how much things had changed since they'd come out and how things were with their exes. They walked out of the coffee shop.

"Thank you for today, I really had a good time." Amy said.

"Me too, we should do it again sometime." Francia said. She kissed Amy on the cheek and walked away.

Shane had been waiting for Amy in her room.

"Finally! How was it?" Shane asked.

"Turns out she and I have a lot in common. She and her girlfriend just broke up and she's trying to find a way to move on." Amy said, taking a seat next to Shane on her bed.

"See, I told you it couldn't be that bad! Tell me everything." Shane said.

Amy and Shane spent the whole evening discussing Amy's date. For the first time in a very long time, Amy felt happy; she'd just been so heartbroken for so long and no one seemed to understand how much she was hurting, until now. She knew getting over Karma was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever have to do but having someone like Francia to help her through it, didn't hurt.


	3. Chapter 3

Since her date with Francia, Amy had started feeling a lot better; thinking about Karma still hurt but somehow, being with Francia just chipped away at the pain. Amy and Francia had decided to go for a movie for their next date.

"That was amazing." Francia said, as she and Amy walked out of the theatre.

"Yeah." Amy said, smiling.

"So, do you want to get some ice cream?" Francia asked.

Amy thought for a second and went, "Yeah, why not."

They went and grabbed some ice cream at a parlor near the theatre. They were eating their ice creams, when Amy's phone started ringing.

"Do you need to take that?" Francia asked, as she took a bite of her ice cream.

Amy looked down at her phone, it was Karma. At first, Amy's heart skipped a beat, when she saw Karma's name on the screen but then she looked up at Francia and smiled. "No, I'll call her back."

And just like that, they went back to talking. It just felt like they never ran out of things to walk about. Amy went to drop Francia till her door.

"I had a really nice time tonight." Amy said, smiling wider than she had in the longest time.

"Me too." Francia said and with that, she leaned into kiss Amy. Amy was a little surprised at first but the kiss made a set of butterflies run amuck in her stomach. It was different from when she kissed Karma, not as intense, tenderer. With Karma, there were just so many feelings and so much history but with Francia, it was all brand new; everything blossoming.

When they finally came up for air, both of them looked at each other, both a little breathless, with the biggest smiles on their faces. Both of them had felt it, that spark that they'd been searching for.

"Goodnight." Francia said, biting her lip.

"Goodnight." Amy said.

The next day, Shane and Amy were walking to class.

"Who do you keep texting?" Shane asked, irritated and curious at the same time.

"Francia." Amy said, looking over at Shane for a second and then back to her screen.

"Oooo. How was your date yesterday?" Shane asked.

"Pretty good." Amy said.

"You have to give me more than that." Shane said, nudging Amy a little.

"It was nothing, we just went to see a movie and got some ice cream after that. I dropped her to her house and she kissed me goodnight."

"Omg, how was it?" Shane asked.

"Different." Amy said.

"Different?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, it was soft and slow; like there was no rush. With Karma, I just used to keep worrying about it ending but with Francia, I didn't think about any of that, I didn't think of Karma; I just thought of Francia." Amy said.

"Wow, you really like her huh?" Shane said.

"Yeah, I'm screwed, aren't I?" Amy asked.

"Maybe a little." Shane said, smiling.

Amy had a huge bio exam that week and she was busy studying, when Karma came over.

"Hey." Karma said, walking into Amy's room.

"Hey." Amy said.

"I called you yesterday." Karma said, taking a seat on Amy's bed.

"Yeah, I know, I was meaning to call you back but I spaced." Amy said.

"Oh, what were you doing?" Karma asked casually.

"Nothing, just studying." Amy said, nervously.

"Oh." Karma said.

"So what's been going with you?" Amy asked.

"Nothing, Liam's taking me out to dinner tonight." Karma said excitedly.

Amy and Karma spoke about Liam and everything that had been going on with Karma until she had to leave for her dinner with Liam. Amy didn't say a word about Francia, she wasn't ready to and what was the point? It would make things too awkward, plus Karma was too busy with Liam to care.

The next day, Karma was standing by her locker, when she saw Amy walk up to her locker. She'd been meaning to talk to her; she didn't think their conversation last night went the way she'd wanted. She was walking up to Amy, but stopped when she saw Francia walking up to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Francia asked, when she saw the worried look on Amy's face.

"I have this huge bio test next period and I don't know anything." Amy said, nervously.

"I thought you'd been prepping for it all week." Francia said.

"I have." Amy said.

"Then?" Francia asked.

"I don't remember anything." Amy said, getting more anxious by the second.

"Just breathe, okay? You know everything." Francia asked, with a reassuring smile.

Amy just smiled at her, somehow reassured. Just then the bell rang.

Amy took a deep breath and said, "Wish me luck."

"Best of luck." Francia said and leaned in to give Amy a quick yet passionate kiss.

Seeing Amy and Francia together, made something shift inside Karma. If anything she should've been relived, she'd been beating herself up for rejecting Amy, but relief was the last thing she felt; it was more like heartbreak and she had no idea why.


	4. Chapter 4

Since she'd seen Amy kissing Francia by her locker, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She wanted to be happy for Amy, happy that she'd finally found someone who felt the same way and things could finally go back to normal between them; but Karma knew that normal would never be enough. She didn't know if she should talk to Amy about it or not, she hadn't told her about it and maybe she didn't want her to know.

Karma went over to Amy's house after school that day.

"Do you want to just stay in bed and eat ice cream while watching re-runs of friends all night?" Karma asked, looking over at Amy.

"I'd love to, but I can't tonight." Amy said.

"Why?" Karma asked.

"I have plans." Amy said.

"What plans?" Karma asked.

"Just dinner with a friend." Amy said, getting nervous because of Karma's increasing questions.

"Which friend?" Karma asked, purposefully pushing Amy.

"Francia, you don't know her." Amy said, looking everywhere and anywhere, except at Karma.

"Is she the one you were kissing by your locker a couple of days ago?" Karma asked.

Amy didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, she couldn't figure out how Karma knew; but she decided to finally tell her the truth. She was getting sick and tired of keeping secrets. "Yeah."

"How long have you guys been dating?" Karma asked.

"A couple of weeks." Amy said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Karma asked.

"Because you've been so busy with Liam and I just thought it would make everything really awkward." Amy said.

"I'm sorry, I know I talk about Liam a lot but I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me things. You can still tell me anything." Karma said, looking into Amy's eyes.

Amy just smiled back at Karma, relieved to have at least something's back to normal.

"So when do I get to meet her?" Karma asked.

"Whenever you want. You'll really like her, she's amazing." Amy said.

"How about lunch tomorrow?" Karma asked.

"Sounds great." Amy said.

Amy and Karma spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on all the things they'd missed out in each other's lives, over the past few weeks. As happy as Karma was to have things back to normal, she couldn't help but feel hurt at how much Amy liked Francia. Sure, she wanted them to go back to being best friends and that's one of the reasons why she told Amy that, she wanted to meet Francia. She knew she had no right to feel hurt but she just did and she had no idea why.

Francia and Amy were having dinner at Francia's favorite restaurant that night.

"So, Karma asked me about you today, apparently, she saw us kissing the other day. She wants to have lunch with us tomorrow." Amy said, a little hesitant.

"Oh." Francia said.

"Look, if you're not comfortable with this, I completely understand. I could make up an excuse." Amy said, reaching for Francia's hand.

"I'm comfortable with it, if you're comfortable with it." Francia said.

"I am. I know she and I have a history but she's still my best friend and the faster things go back to normal, the fast we can both move on and you and I can move forward." Amy said, smiling.

"Lunch it is then." Francia said, smiling back at Amy.

Amy felt a load life off her chest; somehow things were always easy with Francia, she made everything simpler.

The next day, Francia and Amy were sitting and waiting for Karma at their usual lunch table.

"Hey, I'm Karma." Karma said, taking a seat at the table.

"Hi, Francia." Francia.

Karma couldn't help but feel a little jealous of how beautiful Francia looked, she hadn't gotten a good look at her the other day but now that she'd seen her properly ; she couldn't help but feel jealous, not just of how beautiful she was but of how beautiful Amy seemed to find her.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Karma asked, looking at Amy and Francia.

"Francia's in Shane's Spanish class and he introduced us." Amy said.

"Yeah, I'd heard about the two of you, before I'd even met Amy." Francia said, smiling at Karma.

"You had?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, you two were homecoming queens, remember?" Francia asked.

"Oh yeah." Amy said, looking over at Karma with a smile on her face.

Karma and Francia spent the rest of lunch trying to get to know each other but Karma couldn't help feel a little left out, she'd always been the center of all of Amy's attention but now that she was with Francia, it was as if Amy couldn't even see her sitting there. She knew she should be happy for Amy and that she had no right to feel bad that Amy had found someone, after she was the one who broke her heart in the first place. Despite knowing all this, Karma's heart sunk when Francia reached out to hold Amy's hand. This wasn't just friendship jealousy, this was different; Karma had never felt this jealous ever before, not even when she saw Liam with another girl. This was real and Karma felt as though her plan to grow old with Amy was slipping away, right in front of her.


	5. Chapter 5

Amy couldn't stop thinking about Francia. When she'd realized she was in love with Karma, she'd never thought she'd ever feel this way about anyone else but Francia had changed all of that. She understood Amy and her situation in ways, no one could and she'd stuck around despite how hung up Amy had been over Karma.

Shane and Amy were standing under a tree and talking about the party Shane was throwing that night.

"You're coming right?" Shane asked.

"I think so." Amy said.

"You think so? No, you and Francia have to come." Shane said.

"Okay, we'll be there." Amy said, figuring there was on point arguing with Shane.

"Good. Speaking of Francia, how are things going with you guys?" Shane asked.

"Pretty great. She met Karma the other day at lunch." Amy said.

"What? How did Karma even find out about the two of you?" Shane asked.

"She saw us kissing by my locker. It's good that they've finally met, Karma and I can go back to being best friends, plus its not like I was trying to keep it a secret from her; I just didn't know how to tell her." Amy said.

"So, how was it?" Shane asked.

"Okay, they just spent lunch, trying to get to know each other." Amy said.

"Was it weird for you?" Shane asked.

"Not as weird as I thought it would be, I don't know, Francia made it a lot easier." Amy said.

"Well that's great, this had to happen sometime, right?" Shane said.

"Yeah. I'm thinking about telling Francia the truth." Amy said, seriously looking over at Shane.

"The truth about what?" Shane asked.

"Amy and me faking it." Amy said.

"What's the point? You're gay or trying to figure out what you are anyway. How is telling her going to help?" Shane asked.

"It's not but I don't want to keep secrets from her." Amy said.

"What made you decide to do this anyway?" Shane asked.

"Nothing as such, it's just that things are getting serious between us and I don't want to keep things from her; secrets just screw everything up."Amy said.

"Like with you and Karma?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, like me and Karma." Amy said.

"Are you sure, you want to do this?" Shane asked.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"Okay then, let me know how it goes." Shane said.

Later that day, Francia was over at Amy's house.

"So Shane is throwing this party tonight, do you want to go?" Amy asked, looking over at Francia.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Francia said. Seeing the dread on Amy's face, she asked, "You don't like parties, do you?"

"It's not that I don't like parties, it's just that I don't like people." Amy said.

"Come on, it wont be that bad. Plus, I'll finally get a chance to meet all your friends." Francia said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Amy said.

Francia smiled at Amy with a smile that made Amy's heart race. Amy knew this was the time to tell Francia.

"Hey, I need to tell you something." Amy said, sitting up from her slouched position on her bed.

"What's up?" Francia asked.

"You know how Karma and I dated?" Amy asked.

"Yeah." Francia said.

"Well, we were faking it." Amy said.

"What do you mean?" Francia asked, confused.

"We were never actually dating. Shane thought we were gay and outed us to the whole school. Karma thought it would work for us to go along with it, so we pretended to be gay. But after I kissed her at the assembly, I started having feelings for her." Amy said.

Francia didn't say anything, trying to process everything Amy had just told her.

"Say something, please." Amy said.

"I have to go." Francia said, getting off Amy's bed.

As she was walking out of Amy's room, she bumped into Karma, who was just about to enter Amy's room.

"Hey." Karma said.

Francia didn't say anything, she just pushed past Karma and left.

"What happened?" Karma asked, taking a seat next to Amy on her bed.

"I told her about us faking it." Amy said.

"What did she say?" Karma asked.

"Nothing." Amy said.

"Nothing?" Karma asked.

"Nothing, she just walked away." Amy said.

"I'm so sorry." Karma said. For some reason, a part of her was happy that Francia and Amy had fought and she'd finally get Amy to herself for the afternoon.

"Thanks." Amy said.

Karma put her arms around Amy and she put her head on Karma's shoulder and they just sat like that for a while.

"Hey, do you want to go for Shane's party?" Karma asked, looking at the time.

"No, I'm really not in the mood for a party." Amy said.

"I know how much you hate parties but I think it'll be good for you, it'll take your mind off Francia." Karma said.

"I don't think that's possible. I've left her five messages and she hasn't called me back." Amy said.

"Yeah and that's why I think you should just give her some space and let her process everything and you need a break too." Karma said.

Amy thought for a second. "Okay, I'll go get dressed."

Karma was so happy that Amy agreed, it felt just like the night when all this had started, it was finally just her and Amy again; the way it was always meant to be.

Liam was waiting for Karma at the party.

"Hey." Liam said, looking at Amy.

"Hey." Amy said. Liam and Karma had started kissing and Amy wasn't in the mood to stick around for that. "I'll go get us some drinks." She said, not that either of them heard her.

She was standing by the keg, when Shane walked over to her.

"Hey, I'm so glad you made it. Where is Francia?" Shane asked.

"I have no idea." Amy said.

"What do you mean, you have no idea?" Shane asked.

"I mean, I have no idea because she won't pick up any of my calls or answer my texts." Amy said, looking at Shane.

"You told her, didn't you?" Shane asked.

"Yeah and it's screwed everything up." Amy said.

"I'm sorry." Shane said, taking a seat on the couch.

"What am I going to do now? I finally found a girl who was beautiful, smart, funny and felt the same way about me as I did her and I went and blew it." Amy said.

"I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think it was." Shane said.

"How can you know that?" Amy asked.

"Because Francia's here." Shane said.

"What?" Amy asked, following Shane's gaze.

Shane pointed in Francia' direction.

Amy quickly walked over to Francia who was looking all around the room for Amy.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I know I should've told you sooner." Amy said, walking up to Francia.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left like that." Francia said.

"No, I get it. I just didn't want to have any secrets between us." Amy said.

"I don't want any secrets between us either. I really care about you, Amy." Francia said.

"I really care about you too." Amy said, smiling.

Amy leaned in to kiss Francia, her way of apologizing for not telling her sooner, for almost blowing the best thing in her life right now.

Once they came up for air, Amy said, "Come on I'll get you a drink." And they walked hand in hand toward the keg while Shane smiled on, like a proud papa.

Karma had seen Amy and Francia's kiss from across the room.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked.

"Hmm, what? Yeah." Karma said, looking over at Liam. It was when she looked over at him, that she realized that she'd wanted to be with Liam for so long, to be with the cutest, most popular guy in school and now that everything she'd ever wished for had come true; all she could think about was Amy and she didn't even know why. A part of her was happy that Amy had finally found someone who made her smile and a part of her was jealous and sad because she wasn't the one to put that smile on Amy's face.


	6. Chapter 6

Amy and Francia were sitting on Amy's bed, both of them on their phones.

"There's this open mic night tonight, at this bar downtown, do you want to go?" Francia asked, looking up from her phone, at Amy.

"I'd love to but I promised Karma that, we'd have a girls night." Amy said. She could see the disappointment on Francia's face." Or I could shift girl's night to another night."

"No, you should have girls night tonight." Francia said, smiling.

"Are you sure?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, we've been inseparable since we started dating and you should get some time with Karma too." Francia said.

"I know we've never talked about it, but are you okay with Karma and I hanging out?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I know you guys have history but she's also your best friend and I know how much she means to you." Francia said.

Amy was going to say something, but stopped. Instead, she leaned in and kissed Francia.

That night, Karma was so happy that, she and Amy were finally having a girls' night. With all of the mixed feelings she'd been having, it was good for her and Amy to just have a night together, as friends.

"So I was thinking, we'd have tubs of ice cream in our pajamas, while watching romantic comedies; staring with, the notebook." Karma said.

"Sounds great, count me in." Amy said, looking up from her phone, at Karma and then going back to texting.

"Who are you texting?" Karma asked.

"Francia, she's at this open mic things with Shane. She really wanted me to come but when she heard that we had plans, she insisted that I be with you tonight." Amy said, looking up at Karma, smiling.

Karma hated how nice Francia was, it made hating her so much harder. "That was really sweet of her."

"Yeah, she said that she's had a lot of time with me and she doesn't want to keep me from you." Amy said, putting her phone aside.

"She seems amazing." Karma said, managing a smile.

"She really is, she's amongst the nicest people I've ever met." Amy said with a dreamy look on her face.

"You really like her, huh?" Karma asked.

"I think, I'm falling for her." Amy said, with a huge smile on her face.

Karma's heart broke into a million little pieces. "Have you told her?" She asked, trying to stop the hurt from showing on her face.

"No, not yet. I'm looking for the right time. Plus, I'm new to this, I don't know how these things work; I don't want to say it too soon and scare her off." Amy said.

Karma hated feeling like this, she wished she could just go back to a time when she and Amy had never kissed or when Amy wasn't with Francia. She wanted so badly to be able to just be a good friend to Amy, the way she had done for her with Liam but it was just so hard. She had all these feelings, that even she didn't understand and the truth was, the prospect of actually understanding them, scared Karma even more.

After Shane and Francia had come off stage, after their second duet, they decided to take a seat and just grab a drink.

"Who do you keep texting?" Shane asked.

"Amy." Francia said, blushing.

"How can the two of you be so annoyingly adorable, all the fucking time?" Shane said.

Francia just laughed.

"So, how are things with you guys?" Shane asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"They're great. I really think I'm falling in love with her." Francia said, smiling.

"That's amazing! Have you told her?" Shane asked.

"No, not yet." Francia said.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Shane said.

"I don't want to rattle her, she's still getting over Karma." Francia said.

"For what it's worth, I don't think it'll rattle her, I think she loves you too." Shane said.

"You think so?" Francia asked, excitedly.

"Yeah. Oh, I just thought of what song we're going to sing next!" Shane said.

Amy and Karma couldn't stop crying, this was what they always did; They watched heart wrenching romantic comedies and cried their eyes out. Karma's head was on Amy's shoulder.

"Why do we always do this to ourselves?" Karma asked, between sobs.

"Because, it's tradition." Amy said, who herself was tearing up a little.

"He built her the house. He kept the promise." Karma said, taking a bite of her ice cream while still crying.

"What is she thinking, he's her soul mate. Sure, the other guy's James Marsden and he's a lawyer but he's not her soul mate!" Amy said, ranting at the TV.

Karma looked over at Amy, laughing. Amy looked back at her with a smile on her face and even though it was the most normal thing in the world, Amy'd probably looked at her that way a billion times before; but somehow this time was different, this time, it made Karma's heart race. She knew that there was more to these feelings than being territorial, they were romantic feels but Karma was so scared to even think about that possibility of her being in love with Amy, because it would change every single thing she knew about herself. Plus, why would she feel this way now? She had everything she wanted and Amy finally had someone who made her happy. This was the worst time to have feelings for Amy, it would ruin everything but she couldn't ignore, the way she felt in that moment. She hadn't answered even one of Liam's calls that night and in normal circumstances, she would've had a mental breakdown by now but she didn't care. She just wanted to be with Amy, without the world coming in their way. She knew she had a lot to figure out but she wasn't going to do it tonight, she was just going to spend tonight, being with Amy; because no matter what, just being with Amy would always be enough.


	7. Chapter 7

Amy couldn't stop thinking about Francia; it felt like she was what Amy had been waiting for all along. Amy knew that she'd really falling for her but she just didn't know how to tell her.

Shane and Amy were walking to class together.

"Come over to my place tonight, I'm having a get together of sorts." Shane said.

"Okay, I'll be there." Amy said.

"And get Francia along." Shane said.

"Okay." Amy said, smiling, looking over at Shane.

"How are things with you guys?" Shane asked.

"Amazing." Amy said. She couldn't stop smiling whenever she spoke about Francia.

"Have you guys said the L – word yet?" Shane asked.

"No, not yet." Amy said.

"Why not?" Shane asked.

"I know that I'm in love with her, I just don't know how to tell her." Amy said.

"If you know, why can't you just say it?" Shane asked.

"Because the last person I said it to was, Karma." Amy said.

"Oh Amy." Shane said.

"Okay, I know that she's not Karma." Amy said.

"Yeah, she not, she's gay for starters and you guys are together and I know that she loves you too." Shane said, interrupting Amy.

"I know all of those things and I want to really give this thing with Francia a chance, I'm just scared." Amy said.

"Scared of what?" Shane asked.

"Feeling that way again." Amy said.

"What way?" Shane asked.

"Heartbroken." Amy said.

"Listen to me Amy, this is not the same thing. Francia is crazy about you and if you love her, you should tell her that." Shane said.

"I know and I will, once I'm ready." Amy said. She knew that she had to let go of Karma and what happened between them but it was easier said than done.

Amy and Francia reached Shane's house to find, Liam and Karma, Lauren and Theo scattered around the living room.

"Hey." Shane said, walking toward Amy and Francia.

"Hey, is everyone here?" Amy asked, looking around the room.

"Everyone is here and now we're all getting plastered." Shane shouted.

"What's going on?" Francia asked.

"Nothing." Shane said.

"Shane?" Amy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pablo and I broke up and now we're all going to get hammered." Shane said, getting everybody a drink.

Even though in the beginning, no one wanted to drink, as the night went on, everybody got sloshed. Karma because she couldn't stand seeing Amy with Francia,;Lauren because she was nervous about Theo finding out her secret,; Amy because she really wanted to tell Francia that she loved her but she just couldn't; Francia because she was getting worried that Amy was going to break up with her because she'd never seen Amy act that weirdly; Theo and Liam got drunk just for the heck of it.

After nobody could stand straight, Shane shouted "Let's play spin the bottle!" Everybody cheered, none of them in their senses.

Everybody sat in a circle on the floor in Shane's living room. The first spin landed on Lauren and Theo, who were happy to kiss. The second was Liam and Francia, both of them looked over at Karma and Amy respectively, who were both too drunk to understand what was going on and so Liam and Francia quickly kissed. The third spin, landed on Amy and Karma and it was as if it sobered Karma up. Even though they were both drunk, they knew that kissing each other was going to bring up a lot of feelings neither of them wanted to deal with. They looked over at Liam and Francia, respectively; who were waiting for them to kiss, along with everybody.

Amy and Karma moved closer toward each other, both their hearts racing. Once their lips met, it was heaven; it was as if, all the stress, all the sadness fell away to make place for a perfect moment, a perfect kiss; a feeling neither of them had ever felt with anybody else. Karma's heart skipped a beat and she knew that this wasn't just a phase, it wasn't just a crush with Amy, it was love.

"Wow." Amy said.

"I know." Karma said, for the first realizing what Amy had realized a long time ago. She never really understood what Amy had felt, until now.

All Karma thought about for the rest of the night was that kiss and how she couldn't run away anymore, she wasn't sure who she was right now but she was sure of how she felt.

No one was sober enough to drive home and so everyone stayed the night at Shane's place.

"Good morning babe." Francia said, waking Amy with a cup of coffee.

"Morning, what happened last night?" Amy asked, holding her head.

"We all got plastered." Francia said, handing Amy the cup of coffee.

"Oh god, this was exactly what I needed, thank you." Amy said, taking a sip of the coffee.

Francia just smiled and kissed Amy on the cheek.

"I love you." Amy said, with a smile on her face.

"I love you too." Francia said, leaning in to kiss Amy.

Amy had never been this happy before, she'd never experienced what it felt like to have to the person you love, love you back and now that she finally had, she was glad it was with Francia.

After that, everybody woke up one by one and headed home, except Amy.

"Hey." Amy said, waking Shane with a cup of coffee.

"Oh god, last night was a bad idea. I feel like I was hit by a truck." Shane said, not being able to get up.

"I know. So, why did we get plastered last night?" Amy asked.

Shane didn't say anything.

"Shane?" Amy said.

"I was missing Pablo and I just didn't want to be alone." Shane said.

"Why did you guys break up?" Amy asked.

"He's just so nice and I can't keep up with him, I'm just not wired like that." Shane said.

"I'm sorry, I'm here for you though." Amy said.

"Thanks." Shane said, with a small smile.

Liam dropped Karma home.

"Thanks for the ride." Karma said, looking over at Liam.

"No problem." Liam said.

"I'll call you." Karma said and she was about to turn to leave the car, when Liam leaned into kiss her. The truth was, the kiss was hot but she didn't feel anything, not like she felt when she kissed Amy. She smiled at Liam and got out of the car. She knew that this was the worst time to have feelings for Amy, she was so clearly in love with Francia and Karma had Liam but she couldn't deny these feelings she knew she had. She knew she had to figure out what all this meant for herself first, before she went and spoke to Amy about it. She didn't want to deal with any of this; things were so much easier when they were faking it. She got to spend the whole day with Amy and the whole night with Liam. She knew it was going to suck but she also knew that she couldn't be without Amy and she didn't want to anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

Amy and Francia were sitting on the couch in Amy's living room, flipping through channels.

"So, it's my cousin's wedding this weekend." Francia said, looking over at Amy.

"That's great." Amy said, turning off the TV and turning toward Francia.

"Yeah, it's just outside town and I was wondering if you'd go with me." Francia said.

"Of course, I'd love to!" Amy said, hugging Francia.

Francia was visibly relieved, even though she and Amy had been together for months, going for a wedding together was a millstone in their relationship. Francia leaned into kiss Amy, just as Lauren was coming down the steps.

"Oh god, get a room." Lauren said, walking past Amy and Francia.

Amy just rolled her eyes, while Francia smiled embarrassedly and they went back to kissing.

Amy and Francia left early Saturday morning. Amy's mom had required a lot of convincing but eventually, with a little help from Bruce, she agreed.

"I'm really excited." Amy said, putting on her seat belt.

"Me too." Francia said, smiling and then they were off for the weekend, leaving the world behind.

Karma had no idea what she wanted. She'd been ignoring Liam and Amy since the party. She knew that talking to either of them was bad idea, until she knew what and whom she really wanted. She really needed to talk to somebody and usually her go to person was Amy, for anything and everything, but just not this. Karma was looking through her contact list and hit dial, once she'd reached Shane's name.

"Hey." Shane said.

"Hey, I need to talk to you. Can we meet?" Karma asked.

"Sure, why don't you come over?" Shane said.

"I'll be there in an hour." Karma said.

Shane couldn't figure out what Karma would want to talk to him about, but he figured it was probably something about Liam. Karma was super relieved that she'd finally found someone to talk to about this. Shane was the perfect person; he'd even helped Amy when she was confused.

Shane was sitting in his living room, watching TV, when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey." Shane said, as he moved aside, to let Karma in.

"Hey." Karma said, worriedly walking in.

"What's up?" Shane asked, taking a seat on his couch.

"Okay, whatever I tell you has to stay between us, okay?" Karma said, taking a seat next to Shane.

"Okay." Shane said.

"You can't tell anyone, especially not Liam and Amy." Karma said.

"No, don't do this, okay? They're two of my best friends." Shane said.

"I know, but I need you right now and I can't have them know." Karma said.

"The last secret I kept for Amy, almost destroyed my friendship with Liam. I cant do that again." Shane said.

"Please Shane, gay scouts honor?" Karma asked.

"You can't do that on everything okay!" Shane said.

"I'm sorry but you're the only one I can speak to and I have nowhere else to go." Karma said.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Shane asked.

Karma took a deep breath and started," I think I'm in love with Amy."

"What?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, I started having these feelings when I first found out that Amy was dating Francia. At first, I thought it was just me being territorial because Amy and I have never had anyone come between us before but then when I kissed Amy at your house the other night, I just knew that I'm in love with her." Karma said.

"Oh my god. I'm really the last person who should know this." Shane said.

"I'm sorry okay but you're my only friend besides Amy whose out and proud and I just cant' speak to her about this." Karma said.

"This is going to crush Liam and if he finds out I kept it from him, he'll never speak to me again." Shane said.

"I know and that's why I need you, to make sure that I don't hurt him. I mean there's no way not to hurt him but to hurt him as less as possible." Karma said.

"Have you spoken to Amy about this at all?" Shane asked.

"No, she's just been so busy with Francia. I don't even know what to say or how to say it. She's going to hate me." Karma said.

"It is kind of ironic that she fell in love with you, when you wanted to be with Liam and now that you are and she's with Francia, you've fallen in love with her." Shane said.

Karma just shot him a look.

"Okay, so maybe you're not in love with her. Maybe you just feel like you're losing her and the only way to keep her with you, is to be in love with her." Shane said.

"It's not that. I had those feelings when Amy told me she loved me but this isn't it. This is different, I've never felt this way before." Karma said.

"Do you still have feelings for Liam?" Shane asked.

"I don't know. I mean I like him but I don't think I'm in love with him anymore." Karma said.

"Do you plan on telling Amy, any of this?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, but I just don't know what to tell her. I don't even know if I should, she's so happy with Francia but these feelings are killing me. I'm just so confused." Karma said.

"I know this is confusing and scary but I'm here for you." Shane said, putting his arm around Karma.

"What am I going to do?" Karma asked.

"If you're sure that you're in love with Amy, you should talk to Liam. He deserves to know the truth. It won't be easy but it's what you have to do." Shane said.

"What about Amy?" Karma asked.

"You have to be sure of how you feel, before you say anything to her because if you tell her you love her and she breaks up with Francia for you and then you go back to Liam, it'll kill her." Shane said.

"I'm so screwed." Karma said.

"I know, but it'll be okay." Shane said.

Karma put her head on Shane's shoulder. "Thanks for being everyone's gay guru."

"I like that. Gay guru. It has a nice ring to it." Shane said, putting his head on Karma's.

Karma felt a lot better after talking to Shane, it felt as if someone finally understood what she was going through; it gave her clarity. Things were going to be very hard for a while and she'd have to hurt some of the people she loved most but maybe this was what she had to do, to finally find herself. She decided that she was going to talk to Liam tomorrow, tell her him the truth; she owed him that.


	9. Chapter 9

Amy hadn't ever been this happy, she had the perfect girlfriend and the perfect friends; her mom had finally begun to accept who she really was and because of Francia, Amy didn't hate everyone as much. Life couldn't get much better. She did miss Karma though; they hadn't spoken since Shane's party.

Amy and Shane were walking to class together.

"So, how was the wedding?" Shane asked, in a singsong voice.

"Great." Amy said, with a smile.

"Did something happen?" Shane asked, raising his eyebrow.

"No." Amy said.

"Why not?" Shane asked, a little disappointed.

"We've talking about taking things to the next level, I just don't know if I'm ready. I know it's the right girl, I just don't know if it's the right time." Amy said.

"Oh, but then why was the wedding so great?" Shane asked.

"I got to meet her whole family and everyone was so welcoming, I mean my own family is never that happy to see me." Amy said.

Shane just laughed.

"Francia makes me hate everything, a little less. "Amy said.

"She's made you soft." Shane said.

"She has, hasn't she?" Amy said, as she and Shane entered class together.

Liam and Karma had gone for a dinner date, for the first time in weeks, that night. They were walking back to Karma's place, when the wind started blowing. Karma rubbed her shoulders, to generate some heat. Liam took off his jacket and put it around Karma. She smiled at him, a pang of guilt hitting her. He was such a great guy and he really did care about her and she really wished that she could feel the same way about him but she knew she wouldn't and she couldn't. She decided to call him inside and tell him the truth, once they'd reached her place.

"Do you want to come inside? I want to talk to you about something." Karma said, once they'd reached her door.

"Sure." Liam said.

They walked into Karma's house and went to her room.

"So, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a while now." Karma said, taking a seat on her bed.

"Yeah, me too." Liam said, taking a seat next to Karma.

"You have?" Karma asked.

"Yeah. You've been really out of it the past couple of weeks, what's going on?" Liam asked.

Karma took a deep breath, she knew this was it. "That's what I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"Okay." Liam said, looking into Karma's eyes, all his attention was now hers.

"You're such a great guy and you know how much I like you." Karma said.

"I really like you too." Liam said, smiling. He reached for Karma's hand; he could tell she was very worried.

"You're really great Liam, but I just cant do this anymore." Karma said, a lump forming in her throat, tears in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Liam asked, pulling his hand back.

"I mean that, I really care about you and I think I'm always going to love you but I'm just not in love with you anymore and you deserve so much better than to be with a person who doesn't love you, the way you love her." Karma said, tears falling down her eyes.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" Liam asked, standing up.

"A couple of weeks, it's not you, it's me. I've just been really confused." Karma said, in between sobs.

"Confused about what?" Liam asked, getting upset.

"About who I am and what I want." Karma said.

"I thought, this was what you wanted. Us?" Liam said, feeling his heart sink.

"I did and for a very long time, all that mattered was you and just being with you. For a very long time, I thought I knew who I was and whatever little I knew about myself,would be enough but it's not." Karma said.

"I don't understand, what changed Karma?" Liam asked, tears forming in his eyes.

"I did." Karma said.

"Is there somebody else?" Liam asked.

Karma didn't say anything; she just looked down at her hands, as tears fell down her cheeks.

"I knew it! Who is it?" Liam asked, getting angry.

"It's not about that! It's about me." Karma said.

"Who is it? It's Amy isn't it?" Liam asked.

Hearing Amy's name, made Karma finally look up at Liam. She just looked at him but didn't say anything.

"I should've known. I've always known that were was something between the two of you, I just kept telling myself it was nothing, that you loved me as much as I loved you." Liam said.

"I did." Karma said.

"Apparently that wasn't enough." Liam said, starting to walk away.

"I'm sorry." Karma said, shouting after Liam.

"Me too." Liam said and walked away.

Karma lay down on her bed and couldn't stop crying, even though Liam wasn't whom she wanted to be with anymore, it hurt to end things with him because she still cared about him. No matter what she did or what she told herself, the tears just wouldn't stop falling. Her phone had been ringing all night but she hadn't even bothered to check it, she wasn't in the state of mind to talk to anybody.

Amy hated not talking to Karma. She knew that they had other people in their lives now, people they both cared about but she wasn't ready to lose her best friend. She'd been calling her all night and she hadn't picked up. Amy couldn't take it anymore and decided to go over to Karma's place to check on her.

"Karma?" Amy said, walking into Karma's room.

"Amy?" Karma asked, sitting up on her bed. Her mascara had streamed down her face along with the tears, she was exhausted from all the crying and she couldn't cry anymore.

"What happened?" Amy asked, rushing to sit next to Karma on her bed.

"Liam and I broke up." Karma said, starting to cry again.

Amy put her arms around Karma. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

"No, I just want to sit like this for a while." Karma said, putting her head on Amy's chest. Amy put her head on Karma's and they just sat like that for a while, neither of them saying a word. A sense of calm washed over both of them, Karma hadn't cried since Amy'd been here. Throughout all this drama and confusion, Karma had missed Amy, her friend, the one who understood her, and the one who always saved her.


	10. Chapter 10

Karma hadn't stopped thinking about Liam and Amy, since she'd broken up with Liam. She hated hurting Liam like that, he was great but he wasn't what she wanted; she wanted Amy but she didn't know how to tell Amy or even if she should tell her anything at all.

Amy and Francia were lying on Amy's bed, making out. Francia's hand started moving toward, the hem of Amy's shirt.

"I think we should stop. I just don't think I'm ready." Amy said.

"I understand." Francia said, sitting up next to Amy.

"I really want to do this with you but I just don't know if now's the right time to do it." Amy said.

"Hey, it's okay. I understand and we can wait for as long as you need." Francia said.

"Really?" Amy asked, a little shocked and touched by how understanding Francia was being.

"Yeah, absolutely." Francia said.

"I just want it to be right, I want it to be perfect." Amy said.

"We can wait till we feel like it's the perfect time and moment. None of this matters, as long as I get to be with you. I'll wait for as long as you need, I promise." Francia said.

Amy couldn't help but smile at how lucky she'd gotten. She'd found the perfect girlfriend, someone who was so beautiful, inside and out. She'd never thought she'd find someone who'd love her the way Francia did, understand her the way Francia did. All the wait and the pain it took to get to a place where she could be with someone as amazing as Francia, finally started feeling worth the wait.

Amy leaned in to kiss Francia, as if to thank her for understanding, for sticking around, for loving her.

Liam had never felt this way before; he was just so heartbroken. Everything hurt and he couldn't even remember how he'd gotten here. He'd seen Shane and Karma talking a lot at school, before their break up and the thought that Shane might have known something about this, kept nagging him. He wanted to believe that Shane wouldn't keep something like that from him, but after everything that had happened this past year, he just couldn't rule out the possibility that Shane knew but didn't tell him. The thought was driving him crazy and so he decided to go over to Shane's house and talk things through with him.

"Hey." Shane said, moving aside to let Liam in.

"Hey, I have to ask you something." Liam said.

"Sure, what's going on?" Shane asked, taking a seat on his couch.

"I just keep getting this feeling that you knew that Karma was in love with Amy and I know it's crazy but I just had to ask you. You didn't know anything, did you?" Liam asked.

Shane took a deep breath. "I wanted to tell you but Karma said, she wanted to be the one to do it."

"God damn it Shane! How could you do this to me for a second time?" Liam said.

"I just thought that it would be better for you to hear it from her than me." Shane said.

"You could've warned me. How could you do this, after you knew that the last secret you kept almost destroyed our friendship." Liam said.

"I was just trying to help Karma. You don't get how difficult it is to be confused and lost." Shane said.

"I was confused and lost too Shane, maybe not in the same way but I was. I needed my best friend to look out for me, the way I've always looked out for him." Liam said.

"I am looking out for you." Shane said.

"Yeah right, you're suppose to be my best friend." Liam said.

"I am." Shane said.

"Not anymore." Liam said and walked away.

Shane couldn't believe what had just happened. He didn't want to lie to Liam but he had to, he had to be there for Karma because he knew how important it was to have someone, whose there for you when you're confused about who you are. He knew he shouldn't have lied but he just wished Liam would understand, for once.

Karma had decided to go underground for a while; she hadn't spoken to Amy or Shane for days. She didn't even know what to say, every time she spoke to Amy, she wanted to tell her how much she loved her; and as far as Shane was concerned, she didn't want to have to ask him to keep any more secrets, she hated putting his and Liam's friendship in jeopardy like that but she was just so lost and Shane was the only one who could help her.

Shane couldn't get through to Karma and he started getting worried, so he decided to go to her house to check on her.

"Hey." Shane said, walking into Karma's room.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Karma asked. She was sitting on her bed, with earphone on, listening to the saddest songs she could find. She took off her earphones, when she saw Shane.

"You haven't been picking up your phone, I got worried." Shane said, walking into her room.

"Yeah, I didn't want you to have to keep more secrets from Liam." Karma said.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore." Shane said.

"Why?" Karma asked.

"Liam found out that I knew about you being in love with Karma and not telling him. We had this huge fight." Shane said.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Shane. It's all my fault. I know how hurt you must be, I know how much Liam means to you." Karma said.

"I know, it's okay. It's not your fault; you weren't the one who lied to him. He just doesn't know what it's like to be confused or lost or how important it is to have someone who understands but I shouldn't have lied to him again." Shane said, taking a seat next to Karma on her bed.

"I'm sorry I've put you in this position. I'm so sorry that I screwed that what you and Liam have up." Karma said.

"It's okay Karma, it's not your fault. I should've though about what lying would do to Liam and I." Shane said.

"Yeah, but I was the one to put you in this position and I screwed everything up." Karma said.

"You didn't, you needed a friend and you called me, you did the right thing." Shane said.

"I just have no one else to talk to. I always just went to Amy for everything and I just never felt the need for more friends because I never thought I'd be in a situation where I couldn't talk to Amy." Karma said.

" I know and you have me. Liam and I will figure things out, I hope." Shane said.

"I do too. Do you want to talk about it?" Karma said.

"There isn't much to talk about. I wished he would understand, why I did what I did, but he's the straight, cute guy, he won't get it, even though I know he wants to. He's pissed and he's entitled to be. Even though I had my reasons for not telling him, I should've looked out for him in some way, he's my best friend." Shane said.

"I'm so sorry." Karma said.

"It's okay, stop apologizing. It's not your fault. Tell me, how are you feeling?" Shane said.

"I feel like crap actually. I broke Liam's heart, I've caused you and him to fight and if I tell Amy that, I love her, I'm going to break her perfect relationship with Francia." Karma said.

"I know it sucks, I'm sorry." Shane said.

"I wish none of this would've ever happened." Karma said.

"None of what?" Shane asked.

"All of it. I wish Amy and I would've never gone to your party and never pretended to be gay. I wish I would've never felt this way, I wish I'd still be in love with Liam and that it would be enough. But more than anything, I wish I would've known how I was going to feel, so when Amy told me she loved me I could tell her how much I love her." Karma said.

"I know." Shane said, putting his arm around Karma, who now had tears streaming down her eyes.

"I don't know how to fix this Shane." Karma said.

"Maybe you don't have to be the one to fix it, maybe everything will work itself out." Shane said.

"But everything's messed up, I just want to go back to when everything was okay." Karma said.

"Yeah, me too. But it's okay, everything will be okay again. Liam and I will find a way to forgive each other, you and Amy will find your way back to each other, its just that these things may take some time. But they'll be worth the wait." Shane said.

Karma put her head on Shane's chest, comforted by the thought of having a friend. She wished so badly that everything would just magically fix itself but she knew that wasn't going to happen. So she settled for making the best of the moment and decided to get some ice cream and spend the evening with Shane, someone who finally understood.


	11. Chapter 11

Shane had been calling and texting Liam incessantly since their fight. He wanted to make things right, he hated fighting with Liam but he was starting to get pissed with the way he was acting. He knew Liam was heartbroken but he hadn't even tried to make things right with Shane or even try and understand why he did what he did. Shane had been sitting at the lunch table alone thinking, when Amy came by.

"Hey stranger." Amy said, taking a seat in front of Shane.

"Hey." Shane said, snapping out of his thoughts.

"I know I haven't seen you in a while, I'm sorry, I've just been with Francia. What's going on with you?" Amy asked, starting to pick at her salad, she'd forgotten her lunch that day.

"Oh nothing really." Shane said.

"Come on, I know something's going on, spill it." Amy said.

"Liam and I had this huge fight and now he isn't talking to me or answering any of my calls or texts." Shane said.

"That sucks, what happened?" Amy asked.

"Oh he just.." Shane was about to tell Amy everything but stopped before he said anything; realizing just in time, what a disaster everything would become if he spilt the beans.

"He just what?" Amy asked.

"He thinks that if I'd have told him that you and Karma were faking it, they wouldn't have broken up." Shane said, impressed by his quick thinking.

"That's ridiculous. I don't know why Liam and Karma broke up but I'm sure this wasn't the reason." Amy said, getting a little irritated by the dumbness of the situation.

"Yeah well, tell that to Liam." Shane said.

"Maybe he's just really hurting right now, I know Karma is. I haven't spoken to her since they broke up, I tried calling her but she never picks up and to add to that I've just constantly been with Francia and maybe that's why she hasn't made more of an effort to talk." Amy said.

"Yeah, she's probably just figuring some things out." Shane said.

"And so is her." Amy said.

"So how's Francia?" Shane asked.

"She's gone out of town with her parents for the weekend." Amy said.

"So that's why, you have time to speak to me today." Shane said with a playful smile on his face.

"No, what's not it." Amy said, getting a little embarrassed.

Shane gave Amy a look.

"Okay, so yeah that's why but I've been meaning to talk to you anyway. "Amy said.

"What's going on?" Shane asked, smiling.

"Francia and I had a conversation about taking things forward and she said she was ready to wait." Amy said.

"But?" Shane asked.

"I think I'm ready." Amy said.

"Have you told her?" Shane asked.

"I will, once she gets back." Amy said.

"That's great!" Shane said.

They spent the rest of lunch catching up and Shane tried his best to not tell Amy everything, he'd already lost Liam, he didn't want to lose Karma too; he'd really grown close to her.

Karma had been trying to figure out ways to tell Amy how she felt but when she couldn't think of anything, she decided to call Shane.

"Hey." Karma said.

"Hey, what's up?" Shane asked.

"Nothing, how are things with you and Liam now?" Karma asked, hoping that everything was okay.

"We haven't spoken since we fought, he's ignoring me." Shane said.

"I'm sorry." Karma said.

"It' s okay, I'm sick of talking about it. What's going on with you?" Shane asked.

"I've been trying to think of ways to tell Amy how I feel." Karma said.

"And?" Shane asked.

"I've come up with nothing." Karma said.

"You could start by answering her calls. I can tell that she misses you." Shane said.

"I miss her too, it's just that I'm worried that if I talk to her, I'll just tell her how I feel and if I don't do it right, everything will get ruined." Karma said.

"Well if you keep ignoring her, you'll lose her as your best friend too, so talk to her. Francia is out of town, hang out with her or something." Shane said.

"Yeah I will." Karma said.

"Good." Shane said.

"What should I do about telling her?" Karma asked.

"If you're sure of how you feel, just tell her." Shane said.

Karma didn't say anything for a couple of moment, " Maybe I should suggest a three - sum." Karma said, having a eureka moment.

"Is that your answer to everything?" Shane asked, getting a little irritated by the thought of the three-sum situation arising again.

"No, it's just that then Amy wouldn't have to chose between Francia and I." Karma said, trying to convince herself and Shane.

"She will eventually have to chose and I don't think Amy is really the three sum type, especially after how your last attempt at a three-sum went." Shane said.

"Or maybe I could tell her that she could date both of us and then decide." Karma said.

"How do you even come up with these ideas? What makes you think Amy or Francia would agree to any of this?" Shane asked.

"I don't know what else to do! I just feel like, if I tell her then she won't pick me. She's so in love with Francia and she makes Amy so happy, how do I compete with that?" Karma asked.

"You're her best friend in the whole world Karma and Amy was madly in love with you, I think Francia should be worried about competing with you." Shane said.

"Yeah but I was also the girl who broke Amy's heart and was completely clueless about everything." Karma said.

"You couldn't help being clueless and it wasn't your fault that you didn't feel the same way. Stop beating yourself up, maybe she's still in love with you; you'll never know until you tell her how you feel." Shane said.

Karma knew Shane was right; she'd have to tell Amy, one way or another. But before she did, she needed to be Amy's best friend again. Karma decided to go and speak to Amy tomorrow and meet her after school like she used to, get their friendship back on track.

Amy was standing by her locker, taking books out. Karma took a deep breath and started walking toward Amy.

"Hey." Karma said.

"Hey, where have you been?" Amy asked.

"Around. Hey I'm sorry I've been so MIA Lately. I was hoping to make it up to you today." Karma said.

"Francia's out of town for the weekend, why don't we have a girls' weekened?" Amy asked.

"It sounds perfect. I've missed you." Karma said, pulling Amy into a hug.

"I've missed you too." Amy said.

Amy and Karma had planned to spend the whole day together and things were finally okay between them. Karma was walking to class, when she bumped into someone.

"Sorry." Karma said, looking up.

"No, it was my fault." Liam said, looking up. When he saw it was Karma, he began to walk away.

"Liam, wait." Karma said.

Liam stopped and turned back to look at Karma.

"I get why you hate me and I don't blame you but don't hate Shane for protecting me." Karma said.

"I don't hate either of you, I'm just done with all the lies." Liam said.

"I know he hurt you by protecting Amy and me but he's helped us find who we are. He's a good guy; you know that better than anyone. Just think of all the good things he's done for you and forgive him for the one thing he did wrong." Karma said.

"Karma, I can't.." Liam began.

"Just think about it." Karma said, interrupting' him. Liam nodded at her and turned to go to the art room.

Karma wanted to believe that she'd done something to change Liam's mind. She couldn't help how she felt but she could try and save Liam and Shane's friendship.


	12. Chapter 12

Amy was very excited to spend the weekend with Karma. She hated not knowing what was going on with her, especially when she was going through a hard time, dealing with her situation with Liam. It was time for some much needed girl bonding. Plus, she had to speak to Karma about the talk she wanted to have with Francia, she needed Karma's expert advice.

"So what do we have planned today?" Amy asked, taking a seat next to Karma on her bed.

"We're going to binge watch grey's anatomy tonight with ice cream and then we have half an hour to cry over the death of half the cast." Karma said.

"That sounds perfect, but before we start, I kind of want to talk to you about something." Amy said.

"Sure, what's up?" Karma asked.

"Well, Francia and I have been talking about taking things to the next level and she's been super cool about waiting and everything but now I think I'm ready." Amy said.

"Ready for what?" Karma asked, confused.

"To take things forward between Francia and I." Amy said.

"Wow." Karma said. She didn't know how to react, a part of her wanted to cry and scream because this just made her more sure that Amy would never pick her but a part of her wanted to be happy for Amy, that she'd found someone who made her feel comfortable and loved enough to take things forward to that kind of extent.

"So what do you think?" Amy asked.

"Well, if you're sure you're ready, then that's great." Karma said, trying to hide her heartbreak.

"Yeah, I think I am." Amy said.

Karma just smiled, not knowing what else to do.

"You aren't saying anything, I expected you to have a lot to say about this." Amy said.

"No, I'm just glad you've found someone you love and who loves you back." Karma said.

Amy smiled at Karma. "So, how are you dealing with the whole Liam thing."

"I'm okay, I guess." Karma said.

"Why did you guys break up anyway?" Amy asked.

"Oh, I just realized he wasn't what I wanted right now." Karma said, hoping Amy wouldn't ask any more questions.

Amy didn't say anything for a couple of moments. "Well, maybe this could be a good thing, maybe this could help you find what you're looking for."

"Maybe." Karma said, looking over at Amy with a smile on her face. She so wanted to tell Amy that, she'd found what she'd been looking for, it was right in front of her but she just knew it wasn't the right time.

Shane had decided to go and talk to Liam, face to face, this fight was killing him. He decided to go to school; he knew Liam would be in the art room; that's where he always went when he was upset.

"Hey." Shane said, walking in.

"Hey." Liam said, turning to look at Shane with a hammer in his hand.

"Could you put that hammer down before we start talking?" Shane asked, getting a little worried about Liam hitting him with it.

Liam was confused for a second and looked down at his hands and remembered he was holding a hammer; he put it down on the table and looked over at Shane.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay. I didn't mean to hurt you. You're my best friend, you always have been and I'm sorry that I made you doubt that." Shane said.

"It's okay, we're cool." Liam said.

"We are?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, I guess. I realized that even though you telling me before Karma would've cautioned me but eventually she and I were going to break up, one way or another. I think maybe Karma and I aren't meant to be together and I have to learn to be okay with that." Liam said.

"I promise to never lie to you again. I will always pick you, no matter what. I'm always team Liam." Shane said.

Liam just laughed, Shane being himself and goofing off never ceased to amuse him.

The weekend got over faster than Karma had wanted. The first thing she did once she got home, was call Shane.

"Hey, how was girls' weekend?" Shane asked.

" I don't know." Karma said.

"What do you mean?" Shane asked, as he walked around his room.

"Amy told me she wanted to sleep with Francia" Karma said, taking a seat on her bed.

"Oh god, please tell me you didn't suggest a three-sum." Shane said.

"No no, I didn't." Karma said.

"What did you say?" Shane asked.

"I told her if she was ready, that was great." Karma said.

"Really? That's what you came up with?" Shane said.

"What should I have said? I love you Amy, please don't pick her? Karma asked.

"Yes, exactly that!" Shane said.

"Yeah well, now it's of no use." Karma said.

"Why?" Shane asked.

"Because she's going to sleep with Francia, which means she already picked her. I know how much this means to Amy, I don't stand a chance." Karma said.

"How could she have picked her, if she doesn't even know how you feel?" Shane asked.

"Do you really think she'd pick me?" Karma asked.

"While you were busy being clueless, I was Amy's shoulder to cry on when she was in love with you and I'll tell you something, she'd pick you." Shane said.

"Really?" Karma asked, getting a little hopeful.

"Yeah, you always pick your first love." Shane said.

Karma hoped with all her heart that Shane was right. She needed to tell Amy because she felt like, she couldn't breathe when she around her. All she wanted to do was kiss Amy and tell her how much she loved her.

Amy had spent the whole weekend missing Francia and she couldn't wait to see her. She was a little nervous and excited at the same time to tell Francia, she was ready. She'd never felt this way before.

"Hey." Amy said, almost jumping off her bed to go and kiss Francia.

"Hey." Francia said, smiling as she kissed Amy back.

"So, how was your trip?" Amy asked, as they took a seat on her bed.

"Good, I need to talk to you about something." Francia said.

"Sure, what's up?" Amy said.

"Well, I hadn't told you about this but my family's been going through a financial crisis and my dad lost his job a couple of months ago." Francia said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Amy asked.

"I didn't want to burden you and plus you were my escape from everything that worried me. I didn't want to ruin that." Francia said.

"Okay, so how are things now?" Amy asked.

"My parents took me on that trip, to show me a house." Francia said.

"They're buying a house in Vermont?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, something like that." Francia said.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"Because my dad got a job there." Francia said.

"You're moving to Vermont?" Amy asked. She didn't know what to do or say. She couldn't bear the thought of Francia leaving; she was the best thing in Amy's life, she couldn't let her leave.


	13. Chapter 13

Amy couldn't think straight, she couldn't let Francia leave; she was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She couldn't believe that just as she was getting ready to really give their relationship a chance, Francia was leaving her.

"You can't move." Amy said.

"Amy.." Francia started.

"No, you can't." Amy said, interrupting Francia.

"What choice do I have?" Francia asked.

"You can stay with Karma or Shane or me, you can stay with anybody even Liam; but just stay." Amy said, a lump forming in her throat.

"There is nothing I want more than to be with you, Amy." Francia said.

"So, what's the problem?" Amy asked.

"My dad finally got a job and my family's been through so much already, I just don't know if I should put them through anything more." Francia said.

"What about us?" Amy asked, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I love you, Amy." Francia said, her eyes full of tears on the verge of falling.

"Then stay." Amy said.

"How?" Francia asked.

"Just speak to your parents, at least try to stay." Amy said.

"Amy.." Francia said.

"I can't have you leave, okay? I can't do this without you." Amy said, starting to cry. Francia went to Amy and hugged her; trying as hard as she could to comfort Amy, soften the blow that their relationship was about to take. "Please try for me."

"Okay, I'll speak to my parents, okay?" Francia said.

Amy laid her head on Francia's chest and neither of them said anything, neither of them wanting the moment to end. Amy couldn't imagine her life without Francia, what was she suppose to do without her? She'd transformed her life and she just couldn't go back to the life she had before Francia.

"I should go, my parents will be waiting." Francia said.

Amy didn't say anything, she just moved to let Francia leave, she wasn't going to say anything but when Francia was at the door, she said," Francia?"

"Yeah?" Francia asked, turning back to look at Amy.

"I love you." Amy said, with tears in her eyes.

"I love you too." Francia said and walked away.

Amy didn't know what to do or say anymore, she wanted to be alone but she also wanted to be with Karma; so she picked up her phone and hit 1 on her speed dial.

"Hey." Karma said on answering the call.

"Hey, can you come over?" Amy asked.

"Sure, is everything okay?" Karma asked.

"Not really." Amy said.

"What happened?" Karma asked, getting a little worried.

"Francia is moving to Vermont." Amy said.

"I'll be right over." Karma said, hanging up the phone. As happy as she was to have Amy all to herself again, she couldn't help but feel horrible about how heartbroken Amy sounded. Karma knew that she had to put her feels for Amy aside and be a friend to her right now.

"Hey." Karma said, walking into Amy's room.

"Hey." Amy said.

"How are you feeling?" Karma asked, taking a seat next to Amy on her bed.

"I feel like crap." Amy said.

"What happened?" Karma asked.

"Francia came back and she said she wanted to talk to me about something. I thought maybe it was something like what we'd do tomorrow night but turns out, her parents took her to Vermont because her dad got a job there and they're moving." Amy said.

"I'm so sorry, Amy." Karma said, putting her arm around Amy.

"I told her that she could stay with me or you or Shane, she just had to stay." Amy said.

Karma didn't say anything; she didn't know what to say. As much as she wanted to be a good friend to Amy, she didn't know if she had it in her to house Amy's girlfriend.

"That's okay right?" Amy asked, after a couple of minutes of Karma's silence.

"Yeah yeah, of course." Karma said.

"Thanks Karma, I don't know what I'd do without you." Amy said, putting her head on Karma's chest.

Karma didn't know what to do, she knew this was the worst possible time to tell Amy how she felt but if she didn't, she could lose her forever. The second, she came home, she called Shane.

"Hey." Shane said, he sounded very chirpy; he'd been very happy since he and Liam had patched things up.

"Hey." Karma said, sounding like a mixture of anxious and confused.

"What's wrong?" Shane asked.

"Francia's moving away." Karma said.

"Wow okay, but why do you sound upset by that?" Shane asked.

"Because, Amy suggested that Francia live with me or you or Amy." Karma said.

"What did you say?" Shane asked.

"I said yes." Karma said.

"What did you do that for?" Shane asked.

"What was I suppose to say?" Karma said.

"You could've made up some excuse, like your parents wouldn't be okay with it or something." Shane said.

"Have you met my parents? They're okay with everything. Plus, she knows that my brother isn't here and we have a spare room." Karma said.

"Crap." Shane said.

"I know." Karma said.

"Maybe, I'll tell her that Francia could live with me." Shane said.

"You'd do that?" Karma asked.

"Yeah, I mean it would make sense, Francia's in my class and I introduced them." Shane said.

"Oh thank you, thank you Shane! I love you!" Karma said.

"Hahah love you too!" Shane said, laughing at Karma's evident relief.

"But there's one more thing I'm confused about." Karma said.

"What's that?" Shane asked.

"If Francia leaves, should I tell Amy how I feel?" Karma asked.

"Yeah, I think that would be a perfect time." Shane said.

"I think I'll wait a while though, Amy seems very heartbroken." Karma said.

"Yeah." Shane said.

Karma felt relieved after talking to Shane, with Francia's living situation taken care of, Karma could be a friend to Amy. She hoped to be more, someday.

Shane knew how much Francia's leaving would hurt Amy and so he decided to call her and make sure she was okay.

"Hey." Shane said.

"Hey." Amy said, trying to not cry.

"How are you doing? Karma told me Francia might be moving away." Shane said.

"I feel crushed. I mean I've told her to speak to her parents about her staying back but I don't know if they'll agree. I don't even know if she wants to stay." Amy said.

"I know for sure that she wants to stay, okay? She loves you." Shane said.

"I hope she loves me enough to stay because I don't think I can be without her." Amy said.

Amy felt better after talking to Shane, she always did; but that feeling of losing something that meant everything to her just wouldn't go away. Francia hadn't left yet but Amy couldn't help but think about how empty her life would be without her, sure she has a lot of great people in her life but none of them are Francia.


	14. Chapter 14

Amy was finally hopeful; hopeful that Francia would stay; that they'd still have the future, Amy had been picturing since the day they'd met. She'd spoken to everyone she could to get Francia a place to stay, she'd even spoken to her mom but of course, she'd said no; she was finally accepting Amy was gay and their relationship was improving but it hadn't improved that much.

Amy had been lying in her bed for hours, just thinking about ways to make Francia stay.

"Hey." Francia said, from the doorway.

"Hey, what'd your parents say? I've spoken to Shane, he's cool with you staying at his place." Amy said getting up.

"Amy.." Francia began.

"You can also stay with Karma if you want or me, if I can just get my mom to agree." Amy went on, not even noticing the serious expression on Francia's face or her trying to get Amy to listen.

"Amy!" Francia said.

"What?" Amy asked. It was now that she'd finally seen the sadness on Francia's face and that was the moment she realized what was actually going on. Before she could even think about it, she said, "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"Amy, I really tried to convince them." Francia said.

Amy's face fell. She felt as though she couldn't breathe. She wanted to be strong, to not make Francia feel worse than she already did, to not make this any harder than it had to be but it was as if she'd lost all control over herself; she just couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"I know." Amy said after a few moments.

"I just.. I can't leave them right now, they really need me." Francia said.

"I know." Amy said, her brain not working, her lips saying the same words over and over again like a machine.

Francia went over and sat next to Amy on her bed, pulling her into a hug. Amy didn't know what to say, she wanted to be supportive, to be there for Francia but she felt as if the ground had been pulled from under her. She just wanted everything to just stop for a while.

"When are you leaving?" Amy asked, steadying herself.

"Tonight." Francia said.

"Tonight?" Amy repeated, hurt even further by the lack of time she had left with Francia.

"Yeah, my dad got a call from the company today, they said that if he didn't join tomorrow, they'd rescind the offer." Francia said.

"Can they do that?" Amy asked.

"Apparently my dad hadn't responded to the offer for a while, they were waiting for our midterms to end to tell me about it." Francia said.

Amy didn't say anything, she pulled Francia to the head of her bed and they lay there together, Amy with her head on Francia's chest.

"For what it's worth, I need you too." Amy said, not being able to hold back her tears anyway.

"I need you too, Amy. And I want nothing more than to be with you, to be able to do all the things we promised to do together but this past year has been hell for me and my family and you've been the best thing that's happened to me. Ever." Francia said, tears filling her eyes.

"So what about us?" Amy asked, sitting up.

"What about us?" Francia asked.

"Is this it?" Amy asked.

"It doesn't have to be, we could try keeping a long distance relationship." Francia said.

"Do you really want to do that?" Amy asked, wiping the tears running down her cheeks.

"I know I don't want to lose you." Francia said, reaching for Amy's hand.

"I don't want to lose you either, but you're starting over and if we can't make this long distance thing work, I don't want to ruin what we have." Amy said.

"We won't." Francia said.

Amy didn't say anything, everything was happening too fast; but even with her mind being numb and her not being able to think,she knew that she and Francia wouldn't be able to make a long distance relationship work. She didn't want them to end; Francia was what had made her days worth living.

Amy took a deep breath, "I'll tell you what, you go and you settle your life there, take your time and once you're ready to be in relationship, once you're sure you've gotten everything in order, you call me and we will make this work." Amy said, gulping down her tears. She didn't want to be weak anymore; she wanted to be strong, for Francia.

Amy and Francia just lay in each other's arms for whatever time they had left. Somehow hoping the silence would say everything they weren't able to.

"I should get going." Francia said, looking at the clock on Amy's bedside.

"Okay." Amy said, getting up along with Francia.

"Call me once you reach?" Amy said.

"Yeah." Francia said, leaning in to kiss Amy goodbye. That kiss took all of Amy and Francia's pain away, even if it was just for a little while, things were what they used to be and they didn't care about the world or anything besides each other.

Francia was halfway out the door when Amy couldn't keep all that she wanted to say inside.

"Francia? Amy said, her tears now falling freely.

"Yeah." Francia said, turning back to look at Amy, maybe for the last time.

"I love you and I know why you have to do this and I understand but I really wish you didn't." Amy said, speaking between sobs.

"I love you too." Francia said, crying.

Both of them just stared at each for a couple of seconds, neither of them saying a word, the silence becoming their language. When Francia couldn't look at Amy anymore because of how much it hurt, she looked at Amy one last time with a painful smile on her face and walked away; not looking back, worried that if she did, she'd stay.

Amy felt paralyzed, unable to move, unable to think. She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, She couldn't think about anything but Francia, how much she loved her and how much it hurt to see her walk away. Her phone had been ringing all night and Amy didn't have the energy or the heart to pick up. Everything hurt, the pain felt blinding.

Karma had been trying to reach Amy all night. She knew Amy was having a hard time but she never went underground like that. Karma thought she might be with Francia but as the hours went by and Amy didn't pick up, Karma put all consideration aside and decided to go to Amy's house.

Nobody answered the door when Karma rang the bell but the door was open and so she went inside. The house was quiet, still. Karma didn't get a good feeling and rushed to Amy's room to find her laying in bed, crying.

Karma didn't say a word; she just went and lay down next to Amy. She held her throughout the night, no words were spoken, but both of them understood.


	15. Chapter 15

Amy was miserable, she couldn't eat or sleep; she just spent the whole day thinking about Francia. She'd been waiting for that phone call, the call where Francia told her she loved her and wanted to give them another chance but no matter how much Amy stared at her phone, the call never seemed to come.

"Stop doing this to yourself." Karma said, walking into Amy's room. She was sick of seeing Amy depressed every time she saw no call or text from Francia.

"I was just checking to see if anyone had called." Amy said.

"Like Francia?" Karma asked, taking a seat next to Amy on her bed.

"Maybe." Amy said.

"Stop, okay? You told her that you were ready to wait for her to settle down first before you guys started dating again and I know it's hard but you're going to have to wait, Amy." Karma said.

"That's just the thing, I can't." Amy said.

"Why not?" Karma asked, getting a little impatient.

"Because every minute that I don't speak to her, the closer I get to losing her forever." Amy said.

"You're not going to lose her, okay? You guys love each other, distance doesn't just make that go away." Karma said.

"What if it does?" Amy asked.

"It won't." Karma said, trying her best to be reassuring.

"You can't know that." Amy said.

"You can't know that this will mean an end to you and Francia. Look, I know its hard to not be able to talk to the person you love, or be able to tell them just how much you love them. Trust me, I know." Karma said, looking into Amy's eyes. Karma thought about how clueless Amy was to how true these words were for Karma. Her heart was fluttering looking into Amy's eyes, all she wanted to do was lean over and kiss her but she couldn't. So she sucked it up and decided to be a good friend.

"So, what do I do?" Amy asked.

"I guess, you just have to have faith in the love you have for her, know that someday when the time is right, that'll be enough to keep you both together forever." Karma said, convincing and reassuring herself more than Amy.

Amy sighed, tired of feeling this way; so utterly heartbroken, feeling this constant pain in her chest, her heart longing for Francia.

Shane and Amy hadn't spoken since Francia had left but he knew how heartbroken Amy was. He was thinking about calling her, when his phone rang; Karma's name flashing on his screen.

"Hey, how is she?" Shane asked, answering the phone.

"Miserable, she hasn't gotten out of bed ever since Francia left." Karma said.

"What do we do?" Shane asked.

"I don't know anymore, I wish I could say something or do something to make this better but nothing seems to work." Karma said.

"Maybe I should go see her, get her some ice cream and just get her to talk a bit." Shane said.

"That's a good idea. Why don't we just do that this weekend, the three of us?" Karma said.

"I'm up for it." Shane said.

"Great, Amy's house at around seven?" Karma asked.

"I'll get the ice cream, you get the movies." Shane said.

"Done." Karma said.

"See you there." Shane said, hanging up.

Lauren had never been someone who was good with words or being nice to Amy but even she hated seeing Amy so hurt. She was in the bathroom, when she heard Amy crying. She'd been avoiding her but she knew that she should go and speak to her.

"Hey." Lauren said, entering Amy's room.

"Hey." Amy said, wiping her tears.

"How are you doing?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know." Amy said.

"I know that you and I haven't always been on the same page and I haven't been the nicest to you but I'm genuinely sorry that Francia left and I'm here for you." Lauren said.

Amy was a little shocked to see Lauren be this nice to her. "Thank you Lauren, that means a lot."

Lauren was about to leave the room when Shane and Karma walked into Amy's room holding ice cream and DVDs.

"Oh hey Lauren." Karma said.

"Hey." Lauren said.

"Why don't you join us?" Karma asked.

"No, it's okay." Lauren said, looking at Shane and Karma.

"No come on, join us." Shane said, he didn't like to admit it but he'd started liking Lauren a little.

"Okay." Lauren said, smiling.

"Wait, what is going on?" Amy asked.

"This is an intervention." Shane said, going to sit on Amy's bed with Amy, Lauren and Karma.

"For what?" Amy asked.

"For you moping around all the time." Karma said.

"If this is an intervention, why did you get ice cream and DVDs and wait, are those donuts?" Amy asked, her mouth watering at the thought of donuts.

"Okay, so maybe this isn't an intervention, I just said that because it sounds cool." Shane said.

"Then what is this?" Amy asked.

"We know that you're hurting and there's no way to stop that, so, we're going to eat donuts and ice cream and watch romantic comedies with you until you start to feel happy or at least a little less sad." Karma said, smiling at Amy.

Amy smiled over at her friends, touched at how much they cared. She wanted to feel better too, to be happy and so she grabbed the donuts from Shane's hands and asked him to start the movie marathon.

The four of them spent the night eating ice cream and crying while watching depressing romantic dramas. They knew that it would be a while before Amy would be her old sarcastic self but for now, being with each other, laughing, crying, was enough. The rest would just work itself out.

Amy missed Francia and a part of her knew that was just because of how much she loved her and how great they were together but for that night, she forgot a little bit of that pain and the weight on her chest got a little lighter. Francia had become the most important person in her life and her not being here sucked but Amy knew that she had the next best thing.


	16. Chapter 16

It had been two months since Francia had left and Amy was finally starting to feel like herself again. She'd been spending tons of time with her friends and they'd really helped her in getting through this time. She and Lauren had finally found their feet at being sisters and she and Karma were finally her and Karma again.

Karma had finally started feeling hopeful about her and Amy again. She loved seeing Amy happy again and they'd been spending every waking minute together and as hard as it was for Karma to be with Amy without tell her how she felt, being with her just made Karma fall more in love with Amy.

Karma wanted to tell Amy but she was waiting for the right time, she didn't want to rush it and ruin things with Amy; she wanted both of them to be ready.

Karma and Shane had grown very close over the course of the past couple of months and even though Shane hadn't liked Karma in the beginning, he now considered her to be one of his best friends. They'd become inseparable and would constantly be talking on the phone.

"Can I ask you something?" Shane asked, looking over at Karma as they ate lunch at their usual table.

"Sure." Karma said.

"When are you going to tell Amy how you feel?" Shane asked.

"I'm just waiting for the right time." Karma said.

"The right time for what?" Shane asked.

"To tell her, so that when I do, we're both ready." Karma said.

"She's ready Karma, you just have to decide whether or not you are." Shane said.

Karma didn't say anything for a couple of minutes as she thought about what Shane had said. "I'm ready."

"Finally! I'm so excited." Shane said.

"When should I tell her?" Karma asked, now getting nervous about how to tell Amy.

"There's this carnival tonight, why don't you guys go?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, that's actually a really good idea. Amy loves the Ferris Wheel." Karma said.

"Perfect." Shane said.

"But what do I say?" Karma asked.

"Just speak from the heart." Shane said.

"That's not a good idea." Karma said.

"Why?" Shane asked.

"I'm not good with words." Karma said, getting more nervous by the second.

"You're a songwriter." Shane said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah but this is different. "Karma said.

"How?" Shane asked.

"This is me telling Amy I love her, I've been waiting for this moment for what feels like forever, I can't blow it." Karma said.

"You won't." Shane said.

"What if I say the wrong thing?" Karma said.

"Stop overthinking, it's not so much about how or what you say, it's about how you feel; you love her, that's the most important thing." Shane said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Karma said, calming down a little.

"Plus when have you ever been at a loss of words." Shane said.

Karma playfully punched Shane in the arm, put a little at ease by the thought that she and Amy would now be one step closer to their happily ever after.

Karma had gone to Amy's house after school that afternoon. She'd been a nervous wreck, she knew that inviting Amy to the carnival wasn't a big deal, it was the most normal, the most casual thing but it felt like a make or break situation for Karma.

"So there's this carnival tonight, do you want to go?" Karma asked, looking over at Amy who was sitting next to her on Amy's bed.

"Sure, what time?" Amy asked, putting the magazine she'd been reading down.

"Seven?" Karma asked.

"Sounds good, do you want to call the others?" Amy asked.

"I was thinking it could be like a girls' weekend but at a carnival." Karma said.

"Okay, sounds great." Amy said.

Karma didn't want anybody to be there with her and Amy. She'd finally decided to tell Amy how she felt. She didn't know she was going to do it but she just knew that this was the right time. She was going to tell Amy, after the Ferris wheel ride, she knew Amy would force her to take.

The carnival was beautiful because of how very normal it was. There were tons of people, games, rides and loads of food, including donuts, which made Amy, forget about all else. Karma wanted to tell Amy but after their ride on the Ferris wheel, Karma felt so sick that she could barely speak.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked, once they'd gotten off.

"Yeah." Karma said, who was still hyperventilating.

"You sure?" Amy asked, not completely convinced.

"Yeah." Karma said.

"Do you want to go home?" Amy asked.

As much as Karma wanted to stay, she couldn't take anymore of this carnival. "Oh My God Yes."

"Hahah, let's go." Amy said, laughing at how cute Karma looked when she was rattled.

Karma didn't say anything the whole car ride back to Amy's place because she just kept thinking about what she was going to say. As much as she tried, no words were coming to her, words good enough to truly describe the love she had for Amy and how much Amy meant to her. After trying her level best to think of something, she decided to wing it when she came down to saying how she felt. She loved Amy, that's all that she needed to know.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked, taking a seat on her bed.

"Yeah, why?" Karma asked, taking a seat next to Amy.

"You were quiet the whole ride home." Amy said.

"Yeah, there's something I have to talk to you about." Karma said, taking a deep breath.

"Okay, what's up?" Amy said.

"I've just been having these feels for a while and at first, I didn't really understand them, I'm not sure if I understand them even now but I'm more sure of how I feel." Karma said.

Amy just smiled reassuringly at Karma.

"I wasn't ready to really talk about them before but I'm ready now. Amy.." Karma began.

"Oh my god Francia." Amy said.

Karma followed Amy's gaze to find Francia standing in Amy's doorway.

"Hi." Francia said.


	17. Chapter 17

Karma didn't know what to do or say, she just kept staring at Amy who kept staring at Francia. She couldn't believe Francia had shown up the second she was finally going to tell Amy how she felt. Karma without even thinking about it got off Amy's bed and left, tears falling from her eyes.

"Hi." Francia said, walking toward Amy.

"Hi." Amy said, feeling completely lost.

"How have you been?" Francia asked.

"Miserable, you?" Amy asked.

"Me too." Francia said.

"Why didn't you call?" Amy asked.

"I wanted to.." Francia said.

"Then why didn't you?" Amy asked.

"I was just trying to settle everything down and get my life back on track." Francia said.

Amy didn't say anything; she just pulled away from Francia, who was trying to hug her.

"Amy.." Francia said.

"I waited for two months for you to call, to just say anything to me." Amy said, a lump forming in her throat.

"I know, I'm sorry. I screwed up, just give me one more chance." Francia said.

"How long are you here for?" Amy asked.

"I leave tomorrow night." Francia said.

"Then what's the point of any of this? Even if we do get back together, you're just going to leave again and I'll be the one left heartbroken." Amy said, tears falling down Amy's cheeks without her even realizing it.

"I love you, Amy. Being away from you has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do, okay? I just wanted to talk you about giving this long distance thing a chance in person." Francia said.

Amy didn't say anything; she couldn't decide whether or not she was ready to give Francia another chance.

"Just spend the day with me tomorrow, okay? Then you can decide whatever you want." Francia said.

Amy hesitated for a moment, "Okay." She said.

Once she reached home, Karma went straight to her room. She just couldn't stop crying, she couldn't believe that she'd lost out on another chance to be with Amy because of Francia. She'd done everything right, she'd been a good friend, she'd put her feelings for Amy aside just to help her get over Francia and now Francia was back and it was as if all that time Amy and Karma had spent together never happened. Karma hadn't stopped crying and she didn't think she'd ever be able to stop. Her phone had rung a couple of times but she hadn't bothered to check it but when it just didn't stop buzzing, she decided to answer it.

"Hey." Shane said, on the other line.

"Hey." Karma said, sobbing.

"What's wrong?" Shane asked, worriedly.

"Nothing." Karma said.

"Karma." Shane said.

"Francia's back." Karma said.

"What?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, she came back right at the very moment when I was going to tell Amy I love her." Karma said.

"So what did you do when she came?" Shane asked.

"I left." Karma said.

"Why?" Shane asked.

"What else could I have done?" Karma asked.

"You should've stayed." Shane said.

"I don't think she's going to pick me, okay. Francia's back and that's all that Amy cares about." Karma said.

"That is not true. Francia left Amy high and dry and you were there to help her. You've always loved her and she's always loved you, don't you dare give up on that." Shane said.

"So what do I do?" Karma asked.

"Fight for her." Shane said.

What Shane said, really hit Karma. Karma knew that the love she had for Amy was something you could only feel once in a lifetime and she didn't want to give on that up without a fight. She'd walk to the ends of the earth for Amy, fighting for her was nothing.

Amy and Francia spent the day together. They first went for a picnic in the park and then they went out for a movie, at the same theatre where they'd gone for their second date.

They were sitting and eating ice cream at the parlor near the theatre.

"Today was fun." Francia said.

"Yeah, it really was." Amy said, smiling.

"I'm sorry." Francia said.

"For what?" Amy asked.

"For leaving, for never calling. Honestly, I was just worried that you wouldn't want to be with me anymore, that you'd found someone else." Francia said.

"I actually spent all my time thinking about you, missing you." Amy said.

"So what do you think? Will you give another chance?" Francia asked, smiling, reaching for Amy's hand.

Amy didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, thinking long and hard about what she was going to say next.

Amy went right to Karma's house after her date with Francia.

"Hey." Amy said, walking into Karma's room.

"Hey, what are you doing here, I thought you were out with Francia." Karma said, who was sitting on her bed.

"I was." Amy said, taking a seat next to Karma on Karma's bed.

"Then?" Karma asked.

"It was fun." Amy said.

"Then what are you doing here?" Karma asked.

"I realized today that it was over between Francia and I." Amy said.

"Really?" Karma asked, trying to hide her happiness.

"Yeah, I'd spent so long missing her and wanting her that by the time she actually came back to me, I realized that she didn't miss me anymore and it just doesn't feel worth the trouble and the heartache." Amy said.

"Are you okay?" Karma asked.

"Surprisingly, I feel kind of liberated. I feel good." Amy said, smiling.

Karma knew that this was the moment; this was the moment she had to tell Amy how she felt. She'd been trying to protect herself from Amy rejecting her but now Karma had realized that not telling Amy was worse than being rejected. Amy was the love of her life and she'd come too close to losing her too many times to let her go.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Karma said, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, we got interrupted yesterday. What's up?" Amy asked.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about the people in my life and how much they mean to me and I realized that no matter where I am or what's going on with me, you're always my number one." Karma said.

"You're my number one too, Karma." Amy said, smiling.

"And I just need you to know that I love you." Karma said, smiling.

"I love you too, you're my best friend." Amy said.

"No, I'm in love with you." Karma said, looking into Amy's eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Amy was at a loss words. She didn't know what to say, the truth was, even she didn't know how she felt about Karma. She loved her; she really really did but j she just didn't know in what way.

"Say something, please." Karma said.

"I just don't know what to say." Amy said, still completely lost.

"Say anything, just say something." Karma said.

"I need some time." Amy said.

"Time?" Karma asked.

"To decide how I feel." Amy said.

"Okay, take all the time you need." Karma said.

Amy and Karma just stared at each other for a couple of seconds, both of them had a lot they wanted to say but they just couldn't. Amy left after that, confused and uncertain about what she wanted her and Karma to be.

Karma felt numb. She didn't know how to feel, she'd finally told Amy how she felt and she had no idea if Amy felt the same way. Even though she had nothing to say, Karma felt like talking to someone about what had happened and so she called Shane.

"Hello." Shane said, answering the phone.

"Hey." Karma said.

"What's up?" Shane asked.

"I just told Amy I loved her." Karma said.

"So, what happened? How did you tell her? What did she say?" Shane asked, excitedly.

"She came back from her date with Francia and told me that things were over between them and then I told her I love her." Karma said.

"What did she say?" Shane asked.

"Nothing at first and then she said she wanted time." Karma said.

"What did you say?" Shane asked.

"I told her she could take all the time she needed. "Karma said.

"Oh." Shane said, at a loss for words, maybe for the very first time.

"What does she mean by she needs time?" Karma asked, after a couple of minutes of silence.

"Maybe she's just a little confused about how she feels, she and Francia did just break up." Shane said.

"I know but what if she doesn't feel the same way, is this her way of telling me? By asking for time?" Karma asked.

"Her asking for time doesn't mean she doesn't feel the same way, it just means that she needs time to figure it all out." Shane said.

"I hope you're right." Karma said.

As the events of the night began to sink in, Karma grew more and more fearful of Amy not feeling the same way. What was she going to do if Amy didn't feel the way? She couldn't live without her.

Amy had never been this confused. She was caught completely off guard by Karma's feelings for her. She'd dreamt of the day Karma would fall in love with her but she'd never thought it would come true, so much so that she'd began dating Francia to move on. Amy had been thinking about Francia and their relationship when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Francia.

"I'm sorry about the way things ended." Francia's text read.

Amy just stared at her phone for a second and then began typing, "Me too, you're really amazing Francia and I hope we can be friends."

Amy's phone buzzed again within a second. It was a text from Francia.

"Me too. Can you do me a favor though?" Francia's text read.

Amy thought for a second and then replied, "Sure."

"Follow you're heart Amy. You know what you want, just don't let your fear of things not working out, get in the way of you getting exactly what you want." Francia's text read.

"Thanks." Amy replied, without even thinking about it.

"Always." Francia replied, within a second.

Amy was rendered speechless. She didn't know what Francia was referring to but it moved Amy. She knew Francia was right; Amy had always been scared of following her heart. But the question was, what did her heart want? Who did her heart want?

Amy and Karma had been avoiding each other all day until their English literature class, which they had together. Their teacher was now teaching them Moby Dick, but no one was listening. Their teacher continued to talk and so did the kids.

Amy was looking around the class, absent-mindedly when her eyes fell on Karma. Karma was sitting by the window, the sunlight falling on her face. Her hair shining in the light and perfectly framing her face, her lips covered in red lipstick, Karma's favorite. Karma was the most beautiful girl, Amy had ever seen; and it was in that moment that she realized what her heart wanted, who her heart wanted.

Amy couldn't wait for class to get over, she couldn't wait to tell Karma how she felt. As soon as the class got over, everybody rushed out and Amy lost Karma in the crowd. She pushed herself out and looked around for Karma; but she was nowhere to be found. It was when Amy had completely lost hope, that she saw Karma walking toward the parking lot through the little patch of grass between the lockers and the parking lot.

Without even realizing it, Amy had begun running toward Karma. Amy only caught up with Karma when Karma had reached her car. Amy pulled Karma by the arm to get them face each other and without thinking or saying anything, she kissed Karma.

That kiss was better than either of them had ever imagined; it was so full of anticipation, frustration, excitement, uncertainty but most of all, it was full of love. They'd both imagine a billion times what it would feel like to finally kiss the other, they'd both felt like nothing could ever be as good as they'd imagine but this was different, it was better, it was real.

Once they finally came up for air, Karma looked into Amy's eyes, a little confused.

"I love you too. I'm sorry I didn't say it last night, it just took me a while to realize it, but I love you too, so much." Amy said, smiling.

Karma smiled at Amy and kissed her. All the wait, confusion, jealousy and pain had been worth it. They'd finally found their way to each other, the way they'd both always hoped they would find. Things were still scary and confusing but a little less with each other by their side, ready to start the rest of their lives together.


	19. Chapter 19

Things between Amy and Karma had been better than ever before. They'd been together a couple of months now and they'd been talking about taking things forward but something always stopped Karma.

Amy and Karma were in Amy's room, spending another girls' weekend together. Once they'd gotten bored of watching romantic comedies, they'd begun making out and things had progressed quickly. Amy reached for the hem of Karma's shirt but Karma pulled back.

"I'm sorry, we don't have to do anything, if you don't want to." Amy said.

"I do want to, it's just that I'm not sure I'm ready." Karma said.

"It's okay, you take your time. There's no rush, we have all the time in the world." Amy said, smiling reassuring.

Karma just half smiled, not knowing what to say. She loved Amy but she was scared of taking things to the next level, not because she wasn't sure about Amy but because she wasn't sure about the time.

Amy never pushed Karma, she gave her space but this kept nagging at Karma. Karma and Shane were sitting at their usual lunch table and Karma was lost in her thoughts about Amy.

"What's wrong?" Shane asked.

Karma didn't hear Shane and continued to think about Amy.

Shane clicked his fingers in front of Karma's face, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Umm, yeah what?" Karma asked.

"What were you thinking about?" Shane asked.

"Amy." Karma said.

"Aww, how are things?" Shane asked.

"Amazing." Karma said.

"But?" Shane asked.

"How did you know there was a but?" Karma asked.

"I know stuff. What's up?" Shane asked.

"We've been talking about taking things to the next level between us." Karma said, as if just saying this much was self-explanatory.

"So?" Shane asked.

"Something keeps pulling me back." Karma said.

"What?" Shane asked.

"I don't know, I just don't let myself go there." Karma said.

"Why? Is it your first time?" Shane asked.

"No, my first time was with Liam." Karma said.

"Then, what's the problem?" Shane asked.

"this is different." Karma said.

"How?" Shane said.

"This is Amy." Karma said.

"So?" Shane asked.

"This matters. Every time I'm with her, it feels like the most important thing in the world to give her all my attention, I don't want to miss a single thing." Karma said.

"Are you not sure?" Shane asked.

"I'm sure about Amy, more sure than I've ever been of anything else. But I just don't want to screw this up." Karma said.

"How is sex going to screw this up?" Shane asked.

"I don't know, what if it's too soon? Or what if I make her wait too long?" Karma said.

"Stop overthinking so much, she loves you more than anything, she'd wait her whole life if she had to." Shane said.

"I just want it to be special." Karma said.

"It will be special Karma, but not because of where you do it or when but because it'll be with Amy, the person you love most." Shane said.

She just always thought that when she'd do it, there'd be a moment when she'd just know that it was the right time. She wasn't ready to move too fast, not with Amy; she couldn't take the chance of screwing things up. Nothing had ever meant more to Karma than Amy.

Things went on as per normal for the next couple of weeks, Amy gave Karma all the space she needed and Karma kept waiting for the right time, she knew would come eventually.

Amy and Karma hadn't seen each other properly for days. They'd had midterms and both of them had been trying to study as hard as possible. They used to study together occasionally but it never really worked because they'd always start fooling around. Then when the midterms started, they saw even less of each other.

So once the midterms got over, they decided to drop everything and just spend the whole weekend together, no phones, nothing to distract them from each other.

"We're going to binge watch every Meg Ryan romantic comedy there is, this weekend and I've got extra ice cream just for sleepless in Seattle." Karma said, taking a seat on Amy's bed.

"Sounds perfect." Amy said, smiling, taking a seat next to Karma.

"I've missed you." Karma said, looking over at Amy.

"I've missed you too." Amy said, leaning in to kiss Karma.

Both of them soon forgot the movie marathon and the ice cream, they were too busy making up for lost time. What started out as a quick kiss, turned into a hot make out session. Amy made sure not to push Karma to do anything.

They were kissing when Karma pulled away from Amy and just looked at her for a moment.

"What?" Amy asked, embarrassedly.

Karma didn't say anything, she just continued to look at Amy, with a smile on her face; Amy's hair was a mess, her make up all over the place but even still, and she looked so beautiful. It was in that moment that what Shane had said hit Karma, she had never loved anyone more than she loved Amy and every single moment with her was special and perfect and this would be to. Karma knew she was ready; they were ready. Karma got up and took off her shirt and threw it to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Amy asked, a little surprised.

"I'm ready." Karma said, smiling.

"Are you sure?" Amy asked.

"I have never been more sure of anything." Karma said, pulling Amy toward her.

Both Amy and Karma had always wondered what it would be like when they'd finally be ready to take the next step, but neither of them had any idea about how beautiful, passionate yet tender it would be.

"Woah." Karma said, breathlessly.

"I know." Amy said, with a smile on her face as she lay next to Karma.

"I love you." Karma said.

"I love you too." Amy said.

Karma put her head on Amy's chest, glad that she'd waited for the perfect moment, nothing less would've ever been good enough for her and Amy. She felt like it was her very first time, finally with someone who loved her and understood her; exactly for whom she is.


End file.
